Sympathy
by Footprints
Summary: A short story that chronicles Faye's thoughts in Ballad of Fallen Angels.


Sympathy

By: Water/Air

Note: I don't own Cowboy Bebop.Second Note: This short story takes place during Episode 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels. It is what happened to Faye and her encounter with Vicious and the syndicate before and during the time that Spike arrived at the church. Also the dialogue between Vicious and Spike isn't 100% accurate but it is the main idea of what they are talking about.

Faye, handcuffed to one of the pillars in the abandoned cathedral, looked around. The building that these creeps had chose was old and crumbling. It could be dangerous for a battle zone because of the rock fragments that would come loose and possibly smash someone into the ground.  
  
She sighed and looked around, there was dust and rock everywhere and she was getting her dress dirty. She glared in annoyance at the goons that were surrounding her. Instead of looking like two-bit thugs, they looked like ordinary men. Something about them not being stereotype disturbed Faye. It gave her less control over predicting the situation.  
  
All the goons had machine guns with the exception of the blonde man who had a pistol. She saw they were perched in a ready position as if they were about to fire on someone. Faye didn't understand this at all. What was she being kidnapped for? And why was Mao dead? It made no sense to her.  
  
The goons were telling jokes around her, she could tell most of them were dirty jokes. The worst thing that could happen here was that they realized that a beautiful woman was handcuffed and took advantage of the situation. Faye would have tried to get loose like she had on the Bebop but her hands were too far apart and her dress didn't allow any spaces for a handcuff breaker.  
  
Faye realized something then.

The crew would be pissed with her.

She had run off on her own and tried to steal the bounty for the ship. She also realized that they might not rescue her. Then Faye was a little more rational. 'Like they'll rescue me anyway. We don't have any money. Jet doesn't seem like the one to get into a fight, and Spike... well no one could take down a room full of these guys without getting shot,' she thought. That was what it came down to. She had never, ever seen anyone risk their life for her, only if they could gain something, never for the pure risk. She wasn't on friendly terms with her crew either, and she and Spike were the least compatible for friendship.  
  
She snapped out of her thoughts as the men smiled and looked up to the top of the church. "Hey, boss... We're getting kind of bored, can we have fun with the broad?"

'Oh dammit!' Faye had realized that her worst fear was coming true. The boss didn't seem like one to spare people from ordeals. His name was the proof of that. 'Vicious? Isn't it?' A weird name but it scared her nonetheless.  
  
"No, leave her alone," the cold voice of Vicious echoed through the church. The guys looked around in frustration before sitting down again. Faye was surprised. Did she just get spared? Was it possible that this Vicious was weaker than she had thought. Did he have sympathy for women?  
  
The first time she was actually scared of an enemy... She would have to mark the calendar. Most people worked off of money or greed in this universe, Vicious didn't seem to be one of them. She had seen his face in the opera house and it freaked her out. Not that fact that he was smiling but the anticipation of it. He wanted to meet her and he wanted her to see what he did to his enemies. And across from them was Mao Yenrai, his throat slit open.  
  
The things she hadn't expected about this were a) Mao's death, b) Vicious, and c) they had waited for her. The man said that they had done a thorough backround check and were waiting for her. Vicious seemed to know who she was, which freaked her out because she didn't know him. That either made for a demented serial killer or a pervert, none was good. Or maybe they had... she knew then that she shouldn't have trusted that informant, it was a trap for her.  
  
But why?  
  
She didn't have money and she doubted that anyone would go to the trouble of kidnapping her to rape her. While she was desperately trying to figure out why she was here, she heard light but heavy footsteps. The man known as Vicious stepped out of shadow. He was walking near Faye, her thoughts rushed. 'Maybe, he wants to rape me and didn't let the others... Maybe he's going to kill me... Maybe he's going to let me go, because he realized that we have no money...' To Faye, it was most likely the first or second choice.  
  
He stopped in front of her, shadow covered about half of face and a crow or a raven or some sort of blackbird was on his shoulder. His very presence was ominious and something told Faye to be extra-cautious of him. "Hello, Ms. Valentine," he said.  
  
"Vicious, if that is your name, why am I here?" Faye half demanded, half shrunk back.  
  
"That is the name that everyone calls me and, as for you being here, don't take it personally," he said, his face was holding a slight smile. It seemed more evil than an evil laugh.  
  
"We don't have any money!" Faye yelled. "So please, let me go?" Faye pleaded.  
  
"This isn't about money, Ms. Valentine," he said. "If that is your real name?"  
  
"Huh?" Faye questioned. First off, how the hell did he know that much about her. Then she remembered the backround search. Second, the possibility in Faye's mind surfaced now that this was her own enemy, someone who she owed money to. She looked at him straight in the eyes. "How can I not take it personally if you want something from me?" Faye asked.  
  
Vicious let out a chuckle. "Just wanting something from you is better than this," Vicious said as he drew his katana from his sheath and held it up in front of Faye. "One sweep and half of your face is gone... Or I could just kill you?"  
  
Faye got the message. "Okay, what do you want from me? Money? Because I don't have any?"  
  
"You misunderstand me, if you were in my debt you would dead now. Besides, you don't have money and I don't need it, my organization has plenty," Vicious said.  
  
"And who is that?"  
  
"The Red Dragon Clan."  
  
Faye was surprised, she hoped she had heard right. "The Red... so you killed your own boss?!" she questioned.  
  
"He was wild beast with no claws..." Vicious said quietly, then he turned up to Faye. "Yes, I did."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Maybe you will know, in a short time or a long one. You will find out soon enough," Vicious said.  
  
"What the hell do you want?" Faye asked. Wasn't honor supposed to be sacred here? He had killed his master which was definitely breaking the honor code. So maybe he had no honor?  
  
"Ms. Valentine," he said. "Call your ship and tell them to show up here in three hours or you die," Vicious said walking away. A goon walked in front of her and held up a transmitter. It rang and when it was answered, she saw Spike and Jet on the other side...  
  
Faye was slightly relieved to hear that they were coming. That was, until she remembered all the men with machine guns. She could see no clean way out of this. Vicious had settled in the back of the church, the anticipation rising in his blood. Faye saw one option: As soon as the shooting started, run like hell.  
  
The goons shifted into hiding position as footsteps were heard. Faye realized it was beginning. The blonde man had uncuffed her and made her sit in a pew, he stood over her. It was too dark to see them from the entrance. Then Faye saw. It was Spike, she could tell by the hair. He seemed to be wearing a long trenchcoat. He didn't look suspicious of a trick, just walked in.  
  
Faye wondered how stupid he was. She waited for Jet's footsteps but none came. 'Did he come alone? IS HE STUPID OR CRAZY OR WHAT?'

Then she saw him stop, and Vicious step out of the darkness. "When angels fall from heaven, they become devils. Don't you agree Spike?" Vicious said as the bird landed on his shoulders.  
  
'Am I going crazy? Do they know each other or did Vicious just do another backround check?' questioned Faye.

"I'm just watching dream..." Spike said more but Faye didn't pay attention. She was looking at the eyes.  
  
"I'll wake you up," Vicious scowled.  
  
"What's your rush Vicious, after all, it's been a long time..." Spike said. That confirmed it for Faye, they definitely knew each other. Was that the reason that Vicious had kidnapped her, to lure out Spike.

'Damn!' Her mind yelled. None of this made sense to her.  
  
"Are you pleading for your life?" Vicious asked.  
  
"Hardly. Begging doesn't work on you, remember. Even if it's coming from the man who took you in and made you what you are."  
  
"He was a beast who lost his fangs, that is why he had to die and that's why you have to die," Vicious said. Then Faye felt herself being pulled up and a gun was pressed to her head. Faye let out a gasp involuntarily and Spike turned, pointing a gun, to see the man pressing the gun against Faye's head. 'Okay, just comply and PLEASE TO GOD LET ME OUT OF HERE!!' Faye screamed inside of her head.  
  
"Now, we'd like you to drop the gun slowly," the blonde man said who was holding her.  
  
'Why are you still pointing the gun, idiot? You are going to get us both killed, just drop it and maybe, we'll both get out of here fine,' Faye thought. Spike kept his gun at level, his eyes squinted and Faye could tell that he was looking at her, trying to make out the figures. To her, the light had a strange effect. 'Is it just me or are his eyes different colors?'  
  
"What's wrong? If you don't comply..." the man said, smiling. The amusement was in his voice. Faye could tell that he was enjoying this and that he was waiting to waste Spike any moment he could. Faye was just the bait. The miserable bait who would probably be a pass around after Spike was dead and his organs were spilling all over the ground of the church. Faye shook the morbid thoughts from her head, only to have them come back again.

'Maybe, he doesn't care about me enough so he doesn't care whether I'll die or not? Dammit! I should have been a slight bit friendly to him. He did come to save me... to sacrifice himself...'  
  
Then it started...  
  
Spike pulled the trigger and the bullet blew into the brains of the man pointing the gun at Faye. His head fell back and his blood splattered, some on Faye's face, some on the wall. The machine guns started and Vicious disappeared into darkness. The guns ran rapid then as Spike made a brief eye contact with Faye. Wait, hold on...  
  
Then Spike broke off into a run for the pillar as the machine guns fired at him. One man took out a shot gun that broke straight through the pew. Spike had outrun it by then as he dived behind the pillar and shot the man at the pillar next to him, dropping one of the thugs.  
  
Faye snapped out of her momentary trance. Okay, time to exit. She thought as she started to inch her way toward the exit, trying to avoid all the bullets. Then she heard Spike fire back and a machine gun stopped, but not without its toll. The man must've fell because Faye saw the bullets hit the area around her. She gasped and was even more surprised when the man fell from right above her. "Hey, be careful!" she couldn't help but yelling. As she struggled to get out of the church, she sat down and folded up her legs to get her cuffed hands to the front of her body. When she had succeded, she ran to the exit and walked out onto real ground.  
  
A thousand thoughts hit her, most of which told her to get out. Then she remembered what his eyes said. 'He was telling me to go, he was telling me would handle it. He came to save me and confront his enemies. Even if I was just an objective, he could have avoided it...'

She ran to the Swordfish, which was parked only a ways away. Spike hadn't bothered to lock it because the area around them was mostly abandoned. She climbed into the cockpit. 'Jet... he would know what to do...'  
  
Faye heard the communicator answer. Before Jet could say anything, Faye talked: "Jet! Oh god, it's Spike! He's–"  
  
"Tough!!" Jet yelled back, then he hung up.

'What the hell?' Faye thought. Then she remembered that Spike and Jet had gotten in a fight earlier today. 'Damn, he is taking this way too seriously...'  
  
She ran back and heard the firing still. 'So he is still alive.' Faye actually felt semi-grateful. She was about to run back in when the gunfire stopped and Faye feared that he was dead. She didn't want to run back anymore. 'What if... No one on the Bebop ever did things without assurance... They never took unnecessary risks... They cared only about themselves and the money they would make... never about anyone else...'  
  
Then Faye's eyes widened. It was something she had said to Jet earlier. Something she was only using as an excuse but ended up coming back at her. "Come on, we're comrades right?" Comrades looked out and defended one another. She had called them her comrades when they just regarded her as a parasite. But now, Spike had come back to save her... "Are they coming around... Maybe these people can be my comrades... Can I trust them... Like I trusted the rest?"  
  
Another gunshot rang again. Faye looked up, it came from higher up with the church which meant he was still alive. She stepped back then and saw a horrific and glorious sight: The huge stainglass window had cracked and broken and out he fell. The trench coat and his puffy green hair were all that she saw.  
  
He was falling like an angel from heaven...  
  
He quickly picked up speed as his trenchcoat flew around him and the wind pushed back his hair. When he landed, there was huge cloud of dust and Faye stood frozen. Is he...? She walked in and looked at him. He wasn't moving and she had never seen or heard of anyone surviving that kind of fall.  
  
She bent down and turned him over where she saw his wounds. She could visibly make out a slash in the shoulder and he had a gunshot hole right above his stomach and below the ribs. Had Vicious got him?  
  
Then Faye saw something else. It was Spike's revenge. The whole area where Spike had fallen exploded into a bunch of flame and rubble as an explosion blew out. Faye picked up Spike (taking his feet and dragging him away) and set him down by the Swordfish as huge bits of rubble rained the area where they were.  
  
Then Faye went for the dare and put her ear next to his heart. She heard it beating. 'This is beyond all logic,' she thought. 'But then again, this whole day was beyond all logic.'  
  
She saw lights and Jet was above them hovering in the Hammerhead. She could see his face, it looked a bit angry but she could see a bit of a smile. She smiled back. When Jet landed, they hauled his body and shoved it in the Hammerhead, seeing as it had more room than the Swordfish, which Faye would pilot back since she left her Redtail at the opera.  
  
"You'd better get going, I called the cops," Jet said.  
  
Faye nodded. "I wouldn't have it better," she said. Then she turned and walked to the Swordfish. As she climbed in, she heard a raven screech and she turned back to the church to see something. The cold blue eyes in the darkness. He wouldn't die either, then. She wouldn't forget those eyes.  
  
His voice would haunt her three months later on Gren's phone on Titan...  
  
His ways would kill Gren and send Faye into depression...  
  
His presence would cause him and Spike to clash once more. This time they would kill each other and Faye would cry for Spike's death. He had saved her once, but it wasn't about her anymore. She had just opened the door to his past, something that was so horrible that she didn't even know it. She didn't know why they faught. Why they were so angry at each other. She would meet Julia later and she would tell her nothing but start the chain reaction and Faye delivered the message.  
  
This is a tale of a fallen angel, a beautiful goddess, a devil, and the unsuspecting grim reaper.

Sympathy was a rare quality for one such as Vicious to have for anyone. At first he made himself believe that he only spared her because without her Spike wouldn't come. He was wrong and he hated lying to himself. He had seen a woman look at him with terror once before like she had in the opera house.  
  
He had a chance to stop what he was doing and to offer sympathy but he didn't and he lost her.

Julia...

Faye Valentine was a different person, she and Julia look nothing a like. Vicious tried again to convince himself but he didn't accept it.  
  
'You are begging to be redeemed, that is why you spared her.' He came to the conclusion. He didn't need redemption.  
  
He would redeem himself once Spike and Julia died...  
  
He would have honor once Spike and Julia died...  
  
Maybe my soul will rest too...  
  
Vicious smiled as he wiped the blood from his sword.


End file.
